Clear Fork, Pleasant football programs familiar with the other

Clear Fork's and Pleasant's coaching staffs know each other well, but will that be a factor Friday night with a league title on the line?

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Pleasant's Patrick Blubaugh sets up a return during last week's 27-14 win at River Valley. The Spartans face Clear Fork Friday night at home in a meeting of unbeatens.(Photo: Braxton Howell/For The Marion Star)Buy Photo

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Pleasant is 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the MOAC.

Clear Fork is 8-0, 5-0.

The Colts play at Pleasant Friday night at 7 p.m. with the winner getting a title share at least.

Clear Fork is No. 4 in Division IV, and Pleasant is No. 5 in D-V's state AP poll.

MARION - Clear Fork may be new to the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference and more than 50 miles away from Pleasant, but there is more than a little familiarity between the two traditional football powers.

Once upon a time, Clear Fork head coach Dave Carroll got his start as an assistant under legendary Don Kay and Larry Holman at Pleasant. Carroll's brother, Mike, was a longtime teacher and coach at Pleasant as well.

Pleasant head coach Aaron Cook played for and coached with Mike Carroll. The two are neighbors and while Cook had to miss six weeks of teaching due to his broken leg and subsequent surgery, it was Mike who subbed for him in school.

"I love Mike and Dave," Cook said. "They’ve been very good to me over the years, and I’ve learned a lot from them."

When Dave Carroll was the head coach at Urbana for 11 years, he always scrimmaged Pleasant. He kept it up in his time at Clear Fork.

"We hang out together at clinics and at state championship games and all kinds of things," Dave Carroll said. "That was one of my concerns going into this league. There’s a lot of my buddies over there that we’ve kept in touch with."

Familiarity has not bred contempt in this case. Just the opposite, according to both coaches.

"It’s a lot easier when it’s against people you don’t know and aren’t friends with. It’s easier to build that fire up when it’s a stranger," Carroll said.

Friday night doesn't need a lot of build up when the Colts come to Pleasant. The game sells itself. The Colts, 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the MOAC, are ranked No. 4 in Division IV's latest state AP poll. At 7-0, 5-0, Pleasant is No. 5 in Division V.

A lot from around the state will be interested with what happens on Owens Road as the winner gets at least a share of the MOAC title.

Yet knowing each other so well shouldn't have a bearing.

"I don’t think it’s really any different from any game," Cook said. "We’re all doing the same kind of prep that we would normally do. Obviously ... we all have our own little nuances that we do different every year. You still have all that stuff in play.

"You have a little more understanding of the coaching staff on the other side, but everybody is still doing what they normally do."

Carroll agreed.

"When you’ve coached as long as we have, you’re focused on the game and what you have to do and what you have to teach your kids," he said.

So while there is genuine admiration and respect between the two programs, that doesn't lessen the desire to win a championship at the other's expense.

"Obviously there is a lot of buzz about this game," Cook said. "You can hear and see that, but we really are taking the same approach with our kids. It’s the most important because it’s the next game."

rmccurdy@gannett.com

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Week 8 Star Football Player of the Week Poll

Buckeye Valley running back Trent Davies won the online poll with 1,152 votes (47 percent) out of 2,438 cast. Davies ran for 197 yards and two touchdowns last week. Others nominated were Mount Gilead's Mason Mollohan, North Union's Drake Price, Marion Harding's Devon Fraker and Northmor's Conan Becker. Watch MarionStar.com and the digital app this weekend to vote in the Week 9 poll.

Clear Fork head coach Dave Carroll watches his team from the sideline during the homecoming football game against Ontario on Friday.(Photo: Brian J. Smith/USA Today Network-Ohio)